Mattias Ahren to discuss indigenous perspective on recent developments in international intellectual property law

HONOLULU - The William S. Richardson School of Law will hold a free public lecture on "International Developments in Intellectual Property Law: An Indigenous Perspective" with Mattias Ahren of the Saami Council - Human Rights Unit at the William S. Richardson School of Law, Thursday, April 19, 2007, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in Classroom 2.

Mattias Ahren is the head of the Saami Council‘s Human Rights Unit on recent developments in international intellectual property law. He is an expert on intellectual property issues and the affect on indigenous peoples‘ rights to their traditional knowledge and cultural heritage. Ahren has also written numerous articles and reports on human rights and indigenous peoples.

Ahren is a Saami from the Swedish side of Sapmi (Saamiland). He holds two Master of Laws degrees from the University of Stockholm and the University of Chicago. Ahren has served as a Junior Judge at Stockholm County Court, and was an associate at the law firm of Mannheimer Swartling and Danowsky & Partners in Stockholm. In 2001, he joined the Saami Council as the head of the Human Rights Unit. Ahren represents the Saami Council at international forums, and is also a member of an expert committee responsible for drafting a Nordic convention between Finland, Norway, and Sweden on the rights of the Saami people.

This lecture is sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. For more information, call 956-8411.